One of the most beautiful and rewarding things about being a woman is the ability to have a baby – to feel life grow from within and bring a baby into this world to care for and love. So when you struggle to conceive, imagine the heartache and frustration one must feel. According to Redbook magazine, one in eight women in the U.S. will suffer from infertility, and black women are 1.5 times more likely to experience infertility. This is a heart-wrenching experience that hits home for me and many other woman, including celebrities. They ride the same emotional rollercoaster of fertility treatments – from metformin and Glucophage to IVF in an attempt to conceive. Let’s look at 15 starlettes who’ve dealt with this issue firsthand, fearlessly opening up to the public.

Image Source: WENN.com

Mariah Carey

Singer Mariah Carey miscarried and quickly sought treatment for infertility. Carey went on progesterone every month, even through the first 10 weeks of her pregnancy. This treatment helped reduce the risk of miscarriage by half, and eventually she welcomed twins Roc and Roe in 2011 .

It’s about time there is some equality when it comes to questions of fertility. Women are often assumed to be the cause when a couple can’t conceive, but SpermCheck Fertility is pointing out the fact that men are just as likely to be infertile and they are offering at-home sperm count tests to help couples better pinpoint why a woman may not be getting pregnant.

According to data from the company, only 20 percent of men in couples struggling to get pregnant have a sperm-count analysis early on or at all. As Ray Lopez, CEO of SpermCheck, pointed out in Bloomberg News:

“In our society, the woman carries the burden of trying to determine the issues surrounding infertility. Men don’t say, ‘Let me go to the urologist and give a semen sample.’”

Now men can do the analysis themselves in a much cheaper and more private way with the at-home test which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration and is found to be 98% accurate. The analysis will show whether one’s sperm count appears to be normal by scrutinizing a particular protein found only in the head of mature sperm. A reading of 20 million or more sperm per ml indicates a normal level, anything lower means a man should seek a physician.

Staring in April, the tests will be stocked on drugstore shelves for $39.99, but they’re already available online on Walgreens and CVS’ websites. According to John Herr, director of the Center of Cell Biology at the University of Virginia and the chairman of SpermCheck, the convenient analysis will provide a much-needed assessment for a variety of individuals and couples.

“This at-home test was created to meet the needs of couples who are considering and just planning on starting a family, those currently having trouble conceiving, and even those men who are just curious about their sperm count.”

Do you think this at-home test will help men think more about their fertility when it comes to trying to conceive?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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If you are planning on having a little one this year and you want your baby to have that “special” birthdate of 11-11-11, experts say you need to get to work on that right now. According to Dr. Jamie Grifo in a Time Magazine article, if couples conceive within the next two weeks, they have the best shot at getting a baby born on 11-11-11. February 18 in particular is the best conception date (assuming a normal 28-day cycle for the mom-to-be).

Would you or have ever thought about timing conception to get a particular birthdate?

Sexual health includes a whole lot more than condom use and annual pap smears.  It is a compilation of physical health, responsibility and values, as well as knowledge of emotional attitudes and assessment of behavior. Most importantly, sexual health is something that should be maintained way before you get in between the sheets.  Don’t know where to start?  Here’s some help:

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